OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 20, 2009) - The Honourable Greg Thompson, Minister of Veterans Affairs, will pay tribute to Canada's Air Force Veterans during the opening of an exhibit, "Canadian Wings: A Century of Flight" at the Canada Aviation Museum.

During the First World War, close to 25,000 Canadians served with the British air service as pilots, observers and mechanics in every theatre of the war. At the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, the Royal Canadian Air Force was the smallest of Canada's three services. By 1945, it had expanded to the fourth largest air force of the Allied powers.